Do you still have the heebie-jeebies from watching Pet Cemetery, Poltergeist, or The Night of the Living Dead? Horror films successfully tap into our collective subconscious fears of death, what lies beyond (or even beneath, for that matter). When you visit a cemetery do you feel like a hand will appear through a menacing pall to lunge at your ankle? You may be a coimetrophobe. Coimetrophobia is the fear of cemeteries. Symptoms include panic attacks, dizziness/vertigo, headaches and sense of pending doom.
On the other hand, you may be a taphophile like the upcoming speaker at Hobbs State Park, Abby Burnett. A taphophile visits cemeteries for fun and, like Burnett, they take an interest in cemeteries, tombstones or the memory of past lives. Burnett studies the symbolism carved on each stone, looking for clues that could lead to more information about the deceased.
When: 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15
Where: Hobbs State Park visitor center located on Ark. Hwy. 12 just east of the Hwy. 12/War Eagle intersection.
Cost: Free
For information, call: 479-789-5000
In her presentation she will show us gravestones that either hint at something or tell us outright how the person died.
To learn more about upcoming Friends of Hobbs speakers and other park programs, go to www.friendsofhobbs.com/ and www.ArkansasStateParks.com/hobbsstateparkconservationarea.
Community on 10/04/2017